Tron: Uprising - "Beck's Beginning" Review

A new hero emerges to fight for freedom on The Grid.

Thirty years is a long time to wait for a sequel. To be fair, perhaps no film could have ever lived up to the hype that surrounded Tron: Legacy, with all the convention appearances, media tie-ins, sneak peeks and fan anticipation ranging from intensely curious to genuinely rabid. But looking back at it now, nearly a year and a half after opening in theaters, the sting of disappointment has faded enough to see it for what it really was a triumph of sleek, high-tech design occasionally interrupted by a somewhat tenuous story of a son reconnecting with his estranged father. In an unquestionably eager attempt to modernize the world of the 1982 original to an eye-popping degree, the filmmakers lost sight of what made the movie magical in the first place.

Now, Tron: Legacy screenwriters Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz may have a chance to correct some of their mistakes under significantly less fan scrutiny as executive producers of a new animated series based in the Tron universe. Tron: Uprising officially premieres Thursday, June 7, at 9:00 PST/ET on Disney XD, but the first episode, "Beck's Beginning" -- airing Friday, May 18th as a special presentation on The Disney Channel -- has already been released online in its entirety (you can watch below!). That's certainly a vote of confidence from the network, and it's not unfounded. Though the new series represents a big departure from the features, it manages to recreate the rebellious spirit of the first as well as the vibrant visuals of the second.

The episode opens with a sight that should be familiar to fans the exterior of Flynn's arcade. It's the first, and perhaps only, glimpse of our world offered in the show, as a voiceover provided by Bruce Boxleitner (reprising his role as Tron) quickly moves onto explain the origins and history of the digital universe known as The Grid and brings us up to speed on the story so far. The chronology places the setting of Tron: Uprising sometime after the events of the original Tron film, following Kevin Flynn's return to The Grid and Clu's seizure of control as depicted in the game Tron: Evolution, but before the arrival of Kevin's son Sam in Tron: Legacy.

The initial episode introduces us to Beck (voiced by Elijah Wood), a repair program from a far-off corner of The Grid who enjoys a simple life working in a garage with his friends and playing disc games. But when the ruthless General Tessler (Lance Henriksen) arrives with an army to take over Beck's home town of Argon City and derezzes one of his friends right in front of him, Beck vows to fight back. Disguising himself as the legendary hero Tron, long rumored to be dead, Beck stages a demonstration in the middle of town and quickly becomes both a symbol of the resistance and a target of the occupying forces, including Tessler and a formidable female field commander called Paige (Emmanuelle Chriqui).

Beck's actions also attract the attention of a mysterious program who interrogates him about his convictions. It's not really a spoiler to say that the program turns out to be a not-so-dead Tron himself even if the entire series weren't predicated on the mentorship between the two characters, Boxleitner's unmistakable voice gives the game away early on. Having unwittingly proven himself worthy by fighting Tessler's forces, Beck agrees to become Tron's protege and the two embark on a mission to change the system from within.

That last part happens to be the one main gripe I have with the otherwise strong setup presented in this episode. It would seem, at least so far, to be missing the user quotient that connected the two films. In both of those stories, we entered The Grid as outsiders alongside a jolted fellow human. We are meant to identify with Beck and Tron as rebel heroes and their struggle for freedom is certainly identifiable but I kind of miss the fish-out-of-water element that Flynn and Sam brought to the films. Perhaps we'll see the introduction of a user character somewhere down the line, but the central roles (both heroes and villains) have already been established as programs and that's unlikely to change. A missed opportunity, I think.

Putting that small issue aside, though, there's a lot to enjoy in the first 30 minutes of this series. Visually, it's certainly on par with the shiny neon spectacle of Tron: Legacy, and borrows much more from the new aesthetic than the old (though there are certain moments here and there where you can see the old shining through, like the image of Tron holding his identity disc surrounded by multicolored light). Produced using CG animation, the images have a 2D look to them that seamlessly blends modern and traditional techniques. The expressionistic character designs bring to mind the work of progressive animators like Peter Chung and stand out from the generic superheroes and dead-eyed aliens you see so often in animated television these days. There's plenty of action too, and it moves at a brisk pace without confusing the viewer.

For fans of the Daft Punk soundtrack from Tron: Legacy there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that the duo was not directly involved in creating the music for the show. The good news is that Joseph Trapanese, who arranged the film's score, is the composer here. He works in some of the recognizable electronic themes with just enough of a twist to make them original to the series. It's a lively touch that creates an atmospheric connection to the franchise.

The solid voice casting and direction are also a plus. It's great to hear Boxleitner return to the role of Tron, but the newcomers are also well suited to their tasks. Jeff Bridges is the standout omission, with the dual roles of Kevin Flynn and Clu going to capable veteran voice actor Fred Tatasciore. Wood is less, uh, wooden, than he is on screen and Henricksen is sufficiently menacing as Tessler. Finally, one of the unexpected delights of the premiere episode was hearing Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer as the voice of The Grid.

It's not always easy to tell how a series will turn out based on just the first episode, but what happens from here on out, "Beck's Beginning" can stand on its own as a fine 30-minute short set within the world of The Grid. Beyond that, it also shows some potential for interesting story possibilities to come. And while the series may not erase the disappointment fans felt after Tron: Legacy failed to live up to the extraordinarily high expectations set for it, let that be a lesson. Moderate your expectations appropriately and you won't be let down; you might even be pleasantly surprised.